it's a cruel cruel summer

Happy New Year from Iowa! Today was rather ridiculous, all in all, although it wasn't really my problem - but the milk plant in Allerton broke a water main overnight, and so my dad got a call this morning asking for an emergency fix. This was, at the beginning, a true emergency - by the time they discovered the break, they'd drained the town water tower, which meant everyone in town had basically nonexistent pressure in their pipes. This was a potentially catastrophic problem since it was so cold last night that pipes could freeze and break if water stopped flowing....

But despite all the ice in the vicinity of the break, and temperatures so cold that most of my dad's equipment wouldn't start, and the fact that they had to jackhammer through concrete, etc., etc., they ended up fixing it, and no one in town was left without water. So I guess that's lucky, even though it started out as a v. unlucky day.

I spent the day mostly getting ready to go and taking care of last-minute things (which I'm sure some people, such as [censored], would have preferred that I had left undone). I also made some danged quesadillas to go along with the guacamole I made (the guac I made today was even better than yesterday's guac). And I went with [censored] and Dad to visit my grandma one more time - she's super confused, as usual, and was angry that we came in during all the snow instead of staying safe at home (she can see the snow through her window, which has been here for days, but didn't realize the real danger was the fact that it's now -15 with windchills of -30+).

Then we came home and had a totally delicious supper - we ate some pork that my dad had cured/smoked (which was amazing). It would have been the uncontested star of the show, but Mom tried a new recipe for twice-baked potatoes that was so fucking good, and she also made bacon-wrapped lil smokies, which were totally awesome as well.

And then we played two games of Ticket to Ride (Dad and I both won, much to my mother and [censored]'s chagrin). I hung out upstairs until 11:30, but then I came down and finished packing as the new year began.

And now I should sleep and dream of all the things I hope to accomplish in 2018 - goodnight!

train across ukraine

My time in Iowa is almost over, but I still had one major event to get through - Wampler Family Christmas (tm). Even though it's ridiculously cold (and getting even more ridiculously cold tonight/tomorrow), Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy, Drewbaby, Aunt Becky, and Uncle Brian all came down so that we could hang out for our usual holiday celebration. It was a lovely day - we ate tacos (v. non-traditional for us) and baked potatoes, and Iowa State won its bowl game, and our white elephant resulted in some great gifts (the carrot sharpener and bag of carrots that I put in was a surprise hit).

And after everyone left, I made another batch of chocolate chip chewies, and then my parents, [censored] and I played Ticket to Ride, which I won handily. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

but you were living in another world trying to get your message through

Vacation is rapidly coming to a close, so I had another sloth-filled day of #smalltownlife. I didn't drag myself out of bed until eleven a.m., which was pretty freaking great. Then I spent some quality time eating, drinking coffee, and playing with a new bullet journal. I haven't journaled regularly since I moved to Boulder, but now that I'm mostly settled in and also planning to travel way less in Q1 than I did in Q4, I'm hoping to build those habits again.

So, I alternated between messing around with setting up my journal and taking care of random small tasks online. I also, at some point, went into town to pick up groceries for tomorrow (the roads were a little slick, but I was also driving my old Sunfire from 2002, which never had quite the ability to handle snow that any other vehicle has). And I played with my parents' kitten, which is the first kitten we've had in forever who will let us play with her.

Then we had supper, and then we watched the Iowa State/Kansas State basketball game (I stopped watching at halftime and it apparently got much more bleak after that). Then I wrote in my journal, played some Civilization (longer than intended, shorter than desired), and now I must sleep - goodnight!

he knows when you're awake

I haven't been in the mood to blog the last couple of nights...and even if I was in the mood, I was always falling asleep on my feet by the time I got to bed, which meant any post would have been nearly incoherent. The last couple of days have been delightful, with lots of playing and no work at all (although I need to do some writing-related work tomorrow for sure).

Tuesday was mostly a lazy recovery day after the holidays, and we played Codenames in the evening before I eventually played Civilization until very late. Yesterday I woke up and went to Des Moines, where I got some jewelry cleaned/checked and stocked up on bougie necessities (a case of wine to leave here for future trips, along with a bunch of stuff from Whole Foods). It was v. cold yesterday (like -4 when I left the house)...but that's nowhere near as cold as it's going to get this weekend. And then when I got home, we ate ham and scalloped potatoes and played Ticket to Ride ([censored] won, alas). And then I didn't play Civilization - instead, I stayed up talking to my dad until after one a.m. But then I played Civ until about three, which made for a very late night...

...which meant I didn't crawl out of bed until eleven this morning. I spent most of the afternoon hanging out in the kitchen with my mom, and I also made chocolate chip chewies - I haven't made them in forever, but I still remember the recipe by heart, and they turned out perfectly even with gluten free flour. We had tasty beef and mashed potatoes for supper, and then we were going to play a game, but everyone seemed to be falling asleep instead...except for me, and so I (you guessed it) played Civilization.

The Civ marathon will end soon enough, though - it's a good end-of-year palate cleanser, but I'm starting to itch to accomplish something meaningful (like writing a book, or at least journaling regularly again; or cooking tasty paleo things; or getting deep into financial planning; or any number of other things that don't involve playing Civ). But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

he sees you when you're sleeping

Merry Christmas! I had a fabulous day, although I should have gone to bed an hour ago (when I started falling asleep over my laptop). I successfully woke up at eight (under slight duress) so that we could open presents, which all went swimmingly (I gave and got some great stuff, yay). Then we had breakfast - Mom made some v. delish breakfast casserole that I would happily eat again, and Dad made the same ambrosia that he makes every year, which is always great.

I spent the afternoon mostly being lazy, but I left the house briefly to go into town with [censored] (an errand that probably should have been put off since it was cold as fuck outside (I think it was below 10 degrees all day), but we needed fresh air). Then we spent the evening playing a new game called Codenames, which involved a lot of word strategy, which was v. fun and frustrating. We also ate prime rib, which was perfect, and it ended up being a v. lovely evening.

But then everyone went to bed and I played Civilization for a couple of hours...but I'm so tired that I'm going to bed now even though my desire to play is strong. Goodnight!

south city midnight lady

Merry Christmas Eve! Today was lovely, but it lasted a v. long time - I woke up at 9:45am solely because I had set my alarm (playing Civilization last night was not the best idea from a sleep standpoint....nor from an addiction standpoint, since I haven't played in years and yet right now *all* I want to do is open the game even though it's one a.m. and I need to sleep immediately). I spent the morning drinking some coffee and then helping to get ready for Christmas Eve dinner (you might call it lunch) - vacuuming, peeling potatoes, wrapping a couple of presents, etc.

My sister, two of her three kids, and my great-niece and great-nephew showed up shortly before 2pm. We had a delish turkey dinner with all the usual trimmings (green bean casserole, corn casserole, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes and gravy, spinach salad, five cup salad, apricot jello salad, etc) courtesy of my mother, who put in way more effort than was necessary, although it was v. much appreciated. We eventually opened gifts, and eventually it was time for Zane and his fiancee to leave, followed eventually by Sammi and her fiance and her two kids (Jaicee is eight, cute, and totally a handful; Thompson is seven weeks old, slept the whole time, and was quite cuddly).

But Jackie stayed super late - Allie had to work in Des Moines today and didn't get to our house until 7:45pm, which was two hours after her siblings left. I spent some of that intervening time drying dishes and watching '60 Minutes' (CBS programming at its finest), and also talking to Jackie...and when Allie showed up, we hung out for a few hours. But by 10:30 it was definitely time for them to leave, since I still had many packages to wrap and not nearly enough time/energy for them.

But the wrapping is now done, and even though I really want to play Civ, I am going to try to resist temptation and go to bed - goodnight!

the trick you said was never play the game too long

I almost certainly shouldn't have stayed up until 2am playing Civilization V... And I almost certainly don't care about the consequences. I haven't played a game of Civ in many years, and it felt like it was time to decompress by throwing a couple of days of my life at the task of considering AI-driven civs. If AI keeps going the way it currently is, that could actually come in handy, amirite?

So, today was gloriously slothful. I slept late, played civ for a couple of hours, and only went upstairs when the need for coffee and food outweighed my desire to play. Uncle Mark showed up around then, so I talked to him and the family while eating a sandwich.

I spent most of the afternoon hanging out, and we left the house to have dinner in Seymour (prone rib, yum). But when we got home, [censored] and I should have wrapped presents, and instead I played Civ for almost six hours. That means I should sleep so I can accomplish something in the morning (either wrapping presents or conquering the Persians, unclear). Goodnight!

leaving on a jet train

#sorrynotsorry for skipping the blog last night. I worked from home yesterday, which meant that I got up and worked for a couple of hours, then ate breakfast and discussed (discussed, not argued, because I'm a lady) politics with my dad for three hours, then had a couple of meetings, then supper, then some find CBS programming, and then I worked from eight p.m. to one a.m. This turned out to be a great thing, because I hadn't really had that amount of time to focus in the last few weeks, and so I knocked out all but ~20 of the 300+ emails in my inbox. And that means I can go into my vacation feeling much more on top of things than I otherwise would have.

But since I was way over staring at screens, I had to log off as soon as I was done working - which meant I missed my chance on zee blog to wish a timely happy birthday to Jessica. Happy birthday, JWan!

As you may have guessed, I got up later this morning (although 9:30ish isn't that late for me when I'm on vacation). However, I worked all morning and early afternoon (including writing an email that [censored] suggested I should start by saying 'Dear loyal subjects,' but I decided I didn't want to start the holidays by losing my job). That put me slightly behind on my errand plans...but eventually I showered, stole Mom's car (and Mom), and went to Centerville. I had some last-minute Christmas shopping to take care of (mostly a couple of stocking stuffers), and she needed some groceries, so we accomplished all of those errands rather efficiently.

Then we came home, I ate some potato chips and my beloved A&E french onion dip (snack of champions), and then I went into town with Dad to see my grandma, who is in the hospital with an infected leg. This was slightly tough since she remembers basically nothing other than who he is and that he'll take care of her - she didn't realize, multiple times, that she's in a hospital (although she realized multiple times that she'll still be there at Christmas, which upset her every time). Dementia is a total bitch.

Then we came home, and Mom made mac and cheese and some ham, which was totally delish. And then we played Ticket to Ride, which my father won. And now, I think I'm going to journal and go to bed - or maybe just go to bed. Goodnight!

she sets the city on fire

I have successfully arrived in ye olde Iowa after an easyish travel day punctuated by mild annoyances. I woke up this morning, finished packing, moved my car down the street (they're trimming trees in my complex today, which was v. poorly timed since it meant I had to leave my car at the office), and then took care of the last pieces of stuff around the house so that I could vacate it in good shape. Then I stopped at REI, which is practically a 24/7 operation in Boulder, and bought a new long coat - my previous long coat is a little too tight over sweaters, and it's about to get cold as fuck in Boulder, which reminded me that I need to get a legit winter coat while I still have a chance. No, the patagonia down jacket that I wear all the time in SF/Boulder is not sufficient for winter, even if SF in summer often feels like winter.

Then I went to the office and slogged as much as I could, interrupted by an alcohol emergency (long story) that necessitated me dropping some champagne off somewhere before taking a lyft to the bus station. I tried the bus to the airport for the first time and it worked out quite well - it was definitely cheaper than parking at the airport or taking a lyft all the way there (the bus is ~$9, but my company bought us bus passes, so it was free except for the lyft to get to the bus station). It took longer than driving would have, but all in all it was a pretty pleasant experience (although it was super hot on the bus, but I've already forgotten that pain, so we're all good).

When I got to the airport, I stopped in for a snack at Cantina Grill, where I worked on my laptop until I realized I needed to leave immediately to walk to my gate. My flight was slightly oversold, so I didn't want to be late to board - especially because the plane fit like eight people, so any late arrival would have been super obvious. Okay, it fit more than eight, but not a lot more - I had both a window and an aisle seat because the plane had a seat on one side and two seats on the other, if that tells you anything about the comfort level of the flight....

We were twenty minutes late taking off, but we made up some time in the air, and when I landed my parents and [censored] were waiting. We had dinner at Johnny's, as per usual (they carry one of my favorite pinot noirs (Meiomi), which was nice even though I wasn't particularly in love with the meal this time) - but any lack in food was made up for by our favorite waiter, who we always happen to see when we go there. Then we drove home, and now i need to sleep so that I can work tomorrow (working from home to get some stuff done, but then hopefully taking the rest of the break completely off if I can swing it). Goodnight!

over the castle on the hill

Today was pretty good, all in all, but I'm ready for a break. Luckily, I'm about to get one in the form of ye olde Iowa - I'm mostly packed and mostly ready to go, although I have to take care of a bunch of last-minute stuff in the morning and then go to the office and put in a few hours of day job responsibilities before heading to the office. So, on that note, I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

i was younger then, take me back to when

Today was pretty lovely, all in all, although I just noticed how much my tan has faded...I'm never particularly tan to begin with, but after my endless summer during the first six months of this year (well, except for London, which was endless rain and writing), I had a bit more color. Turns out that two phones and two laptops in constant rotation still aren't enough to give me a relaxed, fun-filled glow...

sssanyway. I totally slept through my alarm somehow this morning, and I awoke exactly an hour later than planned - it's like my body knew I wanted to wake up at 7:45am, but didn't realize that I was now in a different timezone. So I had to scramble a bit to get ready for work, which means I missed breakfast, but I made it in time for a meeting (at which my presence was totally unnecessary), so that's good. I then spent the rest of the day trying to catch up on emails (quite unsuccessfully), talking to my parents (successfully), and generally messing around online.

But I cut out at 4pm to meet Katie for happy hour/dinner in Denver. We went to Cuba Cuba, which I'd apparently been to before and had absolutely no recollection of - the blog says it was in spring of 2012, and I remember other things we did that day (a Yves Saint Laurent exhibit, brunch, teatime), but I didn't really remember dinner. This may be because their mojitos are potent and totally addictive - I had a ginger one tonight that was so delicious that I wanted ten, but I had to refrain. We also shared some empanadas and some plantain chips, and we had a couple of entrees, and it was all delish.

Then we went to her house so I could say hi to the girls (and, more importantly, so Katie could rescue James), and then I came home (with a stop at Target to pick up some tings). And now I'm going to sleep and hopefully not sleep through my alarm tomorrow.

But most importantly, happy birthday to my mother and to Chandlord - yay for another year of life!
Goodnight!

i'm high as a kite, i just might stop to check you out

I'm back in Boulder (temporarily) after a long but entirely uneventful day. I woke up without any hangover at all thanks to actually pacing myself last night - Veronica's party was delightful, and it was even more delightful to wake up this morning without being a) too tired or b) too headachy. I've been one of those two things for what feels like a very long time at this point, so today was the break that I needed...

So yeah, I woke up, moved my car so that I wouldn't get a ticket, showered, packed, etc. and was out the door by eleven. My flight was earlier than I'd remembered it (probably a time zone thing in my head), so I didn't have time to grab brunch - instead I went to the airport, returned my rental car, and ate some incredibly spicy chile verde at Urban Tortilla (it was yummy, but perhaps too spicy for me - but I ate it all while tears formed in my eyes, so #noregrets). I also got a coffee and called my parents briefly, and then it was time to board.

I'd intended to do all sorts of work/play on the plane, but instead I slept basically the whole way. When I landed, I retrieved my bag (checked so that I could bring home a bottle of John and Jess's limoncello!), retrieved my car, drove home, and spent the evening doing laundry, watching Top Chef, and doing v. little else.

And now I need to sleep - only 2.5 work days before I leave for ye olde Iowa, so I have a lot to get done before then. Goodnight!

big hands i know you're the one

I can't blog tonight - I wish I could, since I had a delightful day (brunch with Claudia, aka Santy Claude, and Sam at Saul's, Jess's birthday party, coffee with Adit, a post-drive nap, and Veronica's birthday party until one am). But I'm falling asleep while typing, which results in really poor posts - so you'll have to wait for the full update tomorrow. Goodnight!

shareholder value

I woke up this morning feeling slightly less like death than I have the past few days - it helped that I blocked off my calendar until 10am, which meant that I actually got some decent sleep. Of course, my lyft driver took me to the office while listening to a weird combo of Rammstein and Red Hot Chili Peppers, which was not the most relaxing way to start my day (especially since I hadn't had coffee yet).

But work was good today - some meetings, a nice lunch with Alice (nice in terms of conversation; I plated a really weird mishmash of food that didn't make any sense and wasn't particularly tasty), and a lot more meetings this afternoon.

I left before four, though, to meet up with Katrina, whom I hadn't seen in a while - we had drinks at Hi Dive, which is a dive bar on the water that may or may not have rats (we saw no signs, but it seems like a plausible rumor). But then we had to adjourn - I met up with Chandlord and Santy Claude at Benjamin Cooper. There was drank, met some randos of Vidya's (although it's always great to hang out with Adam!, and eventually walked to Chisme, which is like a fast casual place with way better tacos than takeout Mexican).

Of course, Adit and Priyanka came too, and the Priyanka left before Adit, Chandlord, Adam and I adjourned to the nearby bar hidden beneath the Liholiho Yacht Club. The bar was super fun, and my second drink (which Adit ordered) was way more drinkable than whatever else I could have gotten.

But now I'm falling asleep as I write this - goodnight!

i feel it coming

I know I often say I'm beyond tired, but tonight I really mean it. I woke up at 5:45 this morning so that I could beat traffic to the south bay, and I was successful - even if it meant taking my makeup and my hair dryer with me, since every minute I spent in SF this morning would make my commute about two minutes longer later. Leaving that early meant I successfully reached Mountain View in an hour (unheard of) - but it also meant that I'm wrecked.

I then had work allllll day, as I do (although I wrote for about twenty minutes this morning). By six I was definitely done, so I went to a different, fancier building on campus, where I ate dinner and wrote for two hours while waiting for traffic to die down. Then I drove back to the city and wrote from 9:45 until now - but I finished a short story I was trying to write and sent it off to the blogger who asked me for it, and now at least that's over.

And now I'm going to sleep - I blocked off part of my morning, which means I might actually get eight (or nine, if I'm greedy and willing to be late to something) hours of sleep. Goodnight!

i'm practicing your name so i can say it to your face

I'm so ridiculously tired - I only had five possible hours of sleep last night and I kept waking up during that already-too-short interlude, so I awoke this morning already feeling like death. But I made it to the airport, grabbed something to eat, boarded my flight, slept fitfully, and wrote for a little bit. I landed in SFO sometime shortly after nine a.m. here, but I was dragging from exhaustion, so it took awhile to get out of the airport and pick up my rental car.

But I got a sleek new Nissan Rogue, which I like quite a bit - not nearly as big as last trip's Chevy Tahoe, but it's a nice small SUV. And I stopped at Philz on the way to work so that I could get some more caffeine into my bloodstream. Thus fortified, I worked until almost six...I didn't get nearly enough done, but c'est la vie.

Then I cut out and drove to Palo Alto, where I took a twenty-minute nap in my car that may have been the only thing that saved me. And then I had dinner with the original Jen Lui at Mayfield Cafe (owned by the same group that owned my beloved Des Amis - this place isn't the same, but my short ribs were pretty tasty, so I'll take it). Jen was great, and I'm glad we were able to hang out...

...but now that I'm at my hotel (in the city, which was SUPER DUMB since now I have to drive back down tomorrow), I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

she wants to break up every night

Today didn't go quite as planned, mostly because I spent too much time messing around while getting ready (thus losing free time that I'd meant to spend writing or working), and then packing and straightening up my house and taking care of menial tasks took my whole night. And now I'm only going to get five hours of sleep, which is rather unfortunate...so I should probably go to bed immediately. Goodnight!

you want paradise, but someday you'll pay the price

I want to keep writing, but I need to stop staring at screens....conundrum. Today was pretty good, all in all, but I probably should have relaxed a bit more at some point. I woke up at 6:45 (shocker), which enabled me to be at my desk by 7:45 (double shocker), and I wrote for an hour (extra triple quadruple shocker). I still haven't finished the short story I'm working on, but I've written ten pages between yesterday and today, which is about ten more pages than I've written in the last two months, so I'll take it.

But I eventually had to go into work, where I grabbed breakfast and then worked nonstop from 9:30 to 5:30. Then I ordered a gluten free pizza to pick up on the way home, came here, and watched an episode of Top Chef to decompress. And then I pulled the laptop back out and wrote some more. And now, although I want to keep writing, I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

i was lightning before the thunder

Today was pretty great, all in all - still hermity, but in a much better mood than I was yesterday. I got tons of sleep, then spent the morning/early afternoon dealing with more house stuff. That included unpacking the last box in the living room, which was super exciting - I still have a few more things in the living room to put away, but it's almost done.

And then, you will be shocked to know, I actually wrote a few pages. Yes, I'm surprised too. I only got it together because I'm already running late on turning in a short story that I promised someone, but I had a great idea for it, and I think it will come together tomorrow if I get out of the office in time to focus. Or, alternatively, I'll write before work - but that requires going to sleep right now so I can get up in time to do it.

So after the writing, I talked to my parents for like an hour and a half, and then talked briefly to my sister, and then spent some more time organizing stuff. And then I thought I was going to briefly skim a couple of old scenes since my story idea has to do with a minor character in a previous book - but instead I reread a bunch of Lucy/Max's book, along with big chunks of the two books before that. It's an odd feeling, rereading stuff from a year or more ago - some of it is still vivid, and some I don't remember writing at all. But the main takeaway was that I was really proud of how those books turned out, so I should probably get back to writing more books sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, though, the day job requires my attendance tomorrow - so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

raise your glass

I should have gone to a holiday party tonight...but despite getting my nails done this afternoon, I simply wasn't feeling it. I really would have liked to have gone out in general, but I needed a break from coworkers (even though I like my coworkers!) - my job has taken over my life in rather dramatic ways, and this is my last full weekend at home until January, so I decided to indulge in my desire to be a hermit rather than doing the good corporate-citizen thing and going to the party.

This was, in some ways, driven by yesterday, when I worked straight from 8am to 3:45pm (with a ten-minute break for some furniture guys to deliver a new tv stand), and then dashed over to the Boulder County offices to get new license plates for my car. That task was accomplished fairly well, and then I took a break to go shopping (ironically, for something to wear tonight, which turned out to be unnecessary). But when I came home, I really wanted to do nothing, so I ate something unmemorable (having turkey burgers and fries in the freezer made for something easy, but not particularly great), drank a bottle of wine, and watched the end of Project Runway. I also, stupidly, totally unnecessarily, stayed up until after 1am, which made this morning painful...

...because I had to get up and put some clothes on, since I was expecting a tv delivery. I'd bought a tv from Amazon on Black Friday and selected today for the delivery, and it's really humongous - perhaps too humongous, since it's almost twice as big as my previous tv, but it's rather delightful to have a big tv and access to all the content I've missed in the last decade. The delivery didn't arrive until 10:45, and they weren't quite as helpful setting up as I'd been led to believe - they put the legs on backwards, which I luckily noticed before they left since it would have been impossible to change by myself - and even then, they weren't centered, but that was something I was able to take care of when I noticed it later.

But it's all good, and you can probably guess that the tv was a bigger draw than the party. After I set up the tv, I took a nap, ate some leftover pasta for a late lunch, and called [censored] to discuss [censored]. Then I got a mani/pedi - I think I found a good place, and it's walking distance from my house (although I drove because I was cold and lazy).

On the way home, I tested out a new grocery store (also walking distance to my house) and, on a whim, bought some stuff to attempt to make a thai green curry with pork and veggies. It turned out super yummy and was very easy - and I'll probably be eating a lot more of it, since that particular brand of curry sauce is legitimately whole30-approved and totally gluten free, and pulling it together was very simple.

Then, I made the gametime decision to bail on the party and curled up to watch three episodes of Top Chef (last season, which I didn't see). And now I'm going to attempt to be in bed before midnight (shocking) - goodnight!

i been up all night, no sleep

I need to go to bed immediately - happily, it's my bed in Boulder for the next few days, not a bed in some other city (aka the city I actually had a bed in for ten years). I woke up this morning at 5:30am after less than six hours of sleep, which was a v. unwelcome start to the day - but I made it to the airport in time to have my favorite Mexican breakfast, so I guess it was okay. I spent the first part of the flight sleeping and the second part working, as per usual. When I got to Denver, I grabbed a coffee to keep me going, and then drove to the office, where I made it with two minutes to spare for a meeting (yes, that felt v. jetsetter; no, my life really isn't very glamorous).

But I only had one meeting, and then I promptly left the office to go to a team offsite. There are only five of us in Boulder right now, so it was the perfect-sized cozy group to go out for high tea. We went to the Boulder Teahouse, which was, oddly enough, built in Tajikistan, disassembled there, shipped here, and reassembled - which made for a really interesting space. The food, though, was all traditional British teastuffs (although they had a v. excellent chai). The gluten free options were pretty decent, and the company was great (made even more great by a glass of sparkling wine, of course). It was a really fun way to spend a couple of hours, and definitely far more relaxing than spending the rest of the afternoon in meetings.

After that, I wandered around Pearl Street for awhile - I verified that there is a paper/pen/ink store here that is more than qualified to fill my needs (but I didn't buy anything, which is so shocking that I have to point it out). I did, however, buy overpriced mittens that are more suited for skiiers than jetsetters - my body is not ready for these below-freezing temperatures. And then I came home, turned the heat up (it was set to 58 and it was actually 58 when I walked in, which is different than past trips, where it warmed up enough during the day to prevent such shenanigans), huddled under a blanket while waiting for the heat to kick in, and inadvertently took a nap.

But eventually I had to do some work, so I did, and now I'm realizing I should have gone to bed an hour ago. "Should Have Gone To Bed An Hour Ago: The Sara Wampler Story" is probably the name of my memoir. Goodnight!

without ever letting you go

No blog - I have to get up in six hours to go to the airport, so I'm prioritizing sleep instead. Goodnight!

it's quiet uptown

I have a million things I haven't done, but I need to go to bed - my summit was successful today, but I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I was also out at dinner from 5pm to 9pm (slowest dinner ever - Salt House was delish, but between the pre-dinner drinks, the unnecessary appetizers, dinner, and tea, it was a lot of time). Still, I had fun hanging out with people - the benefit of a day job is that there are people to hang out with, and I am taking full advantage.

But now I need to sleep since I have meetings alllll day tomorrow and want time for breakfast beforehand - goodnight! 

death don't discriminate

I'm not too tired to blog, but I am feeling like I need to stop typing immediately and go to bed - a bed which is in SF, not Boulder, although I'm only here for a couple of nights and don't have time for fun. I spent the day working/getting ready to go, drove to the airport around 3:30, and had Cantina Grill and a couple of margaritas to get me in the right place for the turbulence leaving Denver (not too bad this time, but I successfully slept through most of the ascent, which was the goal!).

But I worked at the airport, and I worked some on the plane - and the plane was quite civilized, since it was twice as big as the number of passengers, so I had an empty seat next to me. Then I took a lyft into the city, checked into my hotel, and worked for another hour and a half. I'm in town for yet another summit (which sounds so important, but basically just means that I have one meeting that lasts all day instead of 9-18 meetings in 30-60min blocks)...so that means I won't get any actual work done tomorrow, and so I had to get a bunch done tonight.

So yes, that all sounds as boring as it was - but I'm weirdly in a good mood despite it, so I'll take it. Goodnight!

i'm willing to wait for it

I had an even more hermity day than yesterday, since I didn't bother to leave the house...but since I'll be gone for the next few days, I think I made the right call. The day mostly passed in a blur of house stuff - it's rather bizarre to be dealing with sooooo many clothes after spending many months this year wearing the contents of 1-2 suitcases at a time. I've done a crazy amount of laundry since moving in, since the stuff that was in storage needed to be washed - and the laundry extravaganza continued today. But I'm nearing the end of that situation, and my closets and dresser are getting very close to fully organized, which is delightful.

Of course, I promptly had to pull stuff out of my closet so that I could pack it. But that's the way I roll now. I also took a long break this afternoon to talk to my parents (in fine form, especially when discussing murders/guttings/castrations - human murders, not raccoon murders! I'm shocked too!). I also talked to [censored] about [censored], which probably resulted in me talking him out of buying a [censored] even though I get a discount and my team supports it (this is why I'm in operations, not sales).

Then I made some spaghetti all'amatriciana (fucking delicious), cleaned up the kitchen post-cooking, and did some day job work. And now I must sleep, since tomorrow is coming all too soon (in fact, since it's 12:08am, I guess it's already here). Goodnight!

last christmas i gave you my heart

I slept approximately a million hours last night, and I spent the morning lazing about reading all about nothing on my phone and in some magazines I'd stockpiled. I didn't do much this afternoon, either - I think I hit a wall on just about everything, and I was also feeling the beginning of a sore throat (which seems to have subsided thanks to all the sleep I had). So I eventually showered and went out in search of pho - it wasn't as good as the pho place I've been to in Denver, but it was pretty tasty and only five minutes from my house, so I'll most likely go back when I'm need of a pho phix (sorry, that was dumb).

I also had another outing to get my brows waxed - this place is a block from my house, which makes it super convenient. I think the girl did a good job and I think I liked her, but it made me miss my San Francisco beauty people all over again - I didn't connect with her the way I connected with Amanda, who was amazing at both brows and life. However, it was also like half the price of an SF brow wax, so maybe there's something to be said for that. And it was, as I said, less than two minutes to walk there - I also like Katie's waxing person in Denver better, but that requires planning ahead and making an appointment and driving to Denver. Yes, this is a #firstworldproblem, but it's one I need to figure out if I want to start establishing some routines here.

Anyway, after I got my brows waxed, I walked around a little bit, then came home and cleaned furiously for a couple of hours. I've barely been here the past month and I wasn't really unpacked before that, so I've neglected the actually cleaning even though I've been steadily trying to get things put away. But tonight I scrubbed the kitchen, mopped all the hard floors, cleaned both bathrooms, and vacuumed the stairs, so things are looking much better. I need to vacuum upstairs tomorrow, and I also need to put some clothes away, and I also need to pack for California again...but all of that can wait for morning.

When I was done with that, I watched an episode of Project Runway (only one or two more left of this season, and I was bummed about who went home on the episode I watched tonight - but I know if I look up what she's been up to since the show, I'll find out immediately who won, so I'll have to stay in suspense until I watch the rest of it tomorrow). Then I spent too much timing making lists and messing around online, since there's a lot of things I want to accomplish tomorrow (and this month)...but the best way to accomplish any of it is to get some sleep first. Goodnight!

my perfect rock bottom

I'm back in Boulder and back in my own bed, which hopefully means I'll get some solid sleep - and hopefully also means that I won't be confused in the middle of the night like I was a couple of nights ago, when I got out of bed at three a.m. to use the bathroom, walked there without really opening my eyes or turning on the lights...and promptly hit my head on the wall by the shower, because I didn't remember that corner being there and was probably picturing some other hotel bathroom layout in my head. Oops.

So as you might have guessed from last night's post, today was an exercise in pain. I'm lucky that I woke up at seven, since I hadn't set my alarm for the right time and I was supposed to leave at 7:45 (and I needed to shower and still hadn't packed). I went to bed at two last night after far too many drinks with about ten people from the offsite - it all started very sedately with a happy hour at four p.m., but after most people left, I discovered myself with a bunch of people from the Dublin office, all of whom were determined to keep the party going. So we adjourned to another bar down the street and stayed until after one, which was really totally unnecessary (but very fun, and the best way to get to know the Dublin crew better).

But that made today pretty bleak - I definitely had a hangover when I woke up, and I also had to take a lyft from the hotel to my car (less than a mile away) because I'd obviously had to leave it in downtown Sunnyvale overnight. Luckily, everything this morning went smoothly - Caroline and I grabbed the car, drove to the airport, returned the car (goodbye land yacht, my new friend!), got to the airport, and made it through security in time for me to have breakfast at Urban Tortilla, It was totally out of my way, but Mexican breakfast is a lifesaver.

I slept throughout the flight, as you might have guessed. When I landed in Denver, I ran into one of the guys on my team who happened to be on the same flight, so I offered him a ride into Denver proper - I had thought I'd hit my introvert wall, but it was nice to have someone to talk to so I wouldn't fall asleep while driving. When I got to Denver, I dropped him off, then went to Avanti and ate some truly excellent gluten free pasta. Katie and I had plans to meet up tonight, but when she left work we agreed that we didn't really want to hang out at Avanti - instead, I met her at Lola's, which is tasty Mexican food (you can tell that Mexican food and pasta were what my hangover needed). We had a great time there, with way too much queso and some v. insanely spicy margaritas (probably a good thing, since I was not in a place where I really needed to finish my drink).

Then we went back to her place and I said hi to the girls, who are adorable as always. Katie put the girls down and James and I talked about work and watches for awhile, and then Katie/James/I kept talking until 9:30 or so. I could have spent the night there, but I really wanted to be in my own bed tonight, so I drove here - where I promptly took a nap (although a nap at ten p.m. is a bad idea). And now I'm going to bed for real - goodnight!

jingle bell rock

No blog, too much team building - goodnight!